I haven't finished what a lot of people are calling a big & dumb shooter, the Transformers movie franchise of video game series, but I just got past a moment I think Gears of War 3 deserves some recognition as…artistic. Sure the games' loaded with ridiculous one liners among other sins, but the following single moment means this game and the whole series has more emotional depth and artistic merit than the Shia Labeouf Running and Shouting Optimus series.
Spoiler Alert
At the end of Act III, lead character Dom sacrifices himself to save lead character, his brother to the end, Marcus Fenix. This follows soon after Dom has said his peace to his dead wife and kids, so you think Dom's OK, he's going to be there to the end. But when you see what's going to happen, when it's clear Dom is going to sacrifice himself, the sequence really catches your attention because it's atypical for this kind of thing, and it's all because of the music. The game pulls the usual cacophony to barely audible levels and plays this:
You might remember that (with lyrics) from this Gears of War 2 ad which was mighty attention getting for being atypical for video game ads
Maybe I'm just a sucker for anyone willingly giving up their life to save their buddies, but I couldn't help but get a bit choked up playing to and then watched the cutscene where Dom sacrifices himself.